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Digital Matters

Digital Matters is a free online safety platform created by Internet Matters and sponsored by Tesco Mobile.

Learn how you can use it to keep kids safe online.

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What is Digital Matters?

Digital Matters is an online platform designed to help children stay safe online. It includes a range of activities across different online safety topics. Both teachers and parents can use the platform to help children develop their media literacy and critical thinking skills.

Age minimums

There is no age minimum requirement for using Digital Matters. However, the lesson content and reading levels are most suited for 9-11-year-olds.

Each child is unique, however. So, if your child is older or younger at the appropriate level of development, they could engage with Digital Matters.

How it works

Parents and children can access the platform for free without creating an account. Teachers must create an account to access the associated lesson materials.

For parents and children

From the Digital Matters home screen, parents/carers choose the Parent/Carer route and children choose the Students route.

You then select which topic you’d like to find activities for. Within the module, select a lesson.

Interactive Learning requires access to the lesson pack to do with children. If you are not a teacher and do not have an account, skip ‘Interactive Learning’. Instead, go directly to ‘Once Upon Online’.

Once Upon Online is a multi-part interactive story. You can read it through with your child and make choices together, or you can each play on your own and make independent choices. There are multiple endings available, so either way, you can have important conversations about online safety.

For teachers

Teachers must first register to Digital Matters to access lesson materials. Then, following the teacher route, they can choose a module and lesson plan. On the lesson screen, a download option will appear so they can download lesson resources.

Lesson resources include the lesson plan, slides and companion guide. It also includes offline handouts and curriculum links.

Teachers can then lead their students through Interactive Learning and Once Upon Online. Or, they can assign the story to do at home with parents or independently as homework.

At the end of Once Upon Online, students can download their journey which include reflection questions. Some teachers assign these questions as homework or as a plenary activity.

Benefits of Digital Matters

Digital Matters was designed to help children learn key online safety skills. So, there are many benefits to using the app:

  • Learning through doing: Using the Once Upon Online stories, children can explore where both positive and negative choices lead from without coming to harm themselves.
  • Aligned to curriculum: Whether you’re based in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, Digital Matters supports curriculum outcomes across subject areas.
  • Connecting teachers and parents: Digital Matters can help bring online safety at home to help teachers and parents get on the same page.
  • Children enjoy the stories: Multiple children have praised Digital Matters’ stories and the characters with some choosing to read the stories on their own outside of school.

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